Missing Pieces, Bigger Puzzles

Posted on Wed May 29th, 2019 @ 11:12am by Lieutenant Theodore Winslow & Lieutenant Commander Sofia Nikedoros

783 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Deep Freeze
Location: Haumea Colony, Starfleet Housing
Timeline: MD10 03:25

Brrr. Sofia woke shivering.

"Lights."

Nothing happened. Wrapping the bed cover around her shoulders, she got up and went to the window to open the blinds. It early yet, but she would have expected to see at least a few lights on in the surrounding buildings. She pulled on clothes, awkwardly trying to keep the body warmed blanket around her as she dressed, and then layered on her winter gear in case this wasn't resolved soon. After fumbling to activate the manual door release, she stepped out into the corridor.

Outside others were doing the same, emerging with worried looks. "You too?" an ensign asked.

Sofia nodded. "I think it's the whole complex." She sighed to herself; this wasn't her area of expertise, but she was the highest ranking officer on site. "See if anyone needs help getting out their quarters. I'll go check the generator."

Several minutes later, stamping her feet against encroaching cold, she wedged open the door to the generator. It wasn't running and while she wasn't an engineer by any stretch of the imagination, she was pretty sure she knew why: a ragged gash was all that left of where she was pretty sure a circulating pump should have been. A glance around showed a similarly ragged opening torn in slats meant to vent waste heat to the outside in warmer conditions.

Given what was suspected about the Io's crash, her first thought was sabotage. She tapped her comm. "Nikedoros to Security. There's something in my generator room I think you should see."

"Mmmm... what..." A sleepy voice responded before the voice in question seemed to wake up a little more and realise what was in his hand and who was talking to him. "Give me five minutes Sir." The voice said and the call was cut. Just over five minutes later the tall form of Theodore Winslow appeared in the doorway looking less than awake but he was at least dressed. "What can I do for you, Sir?" He asked thinking carefully about his words.

"My apologies for the o'dark-thirty call, Lieutenant," Sofia said, but I thought this should be reported as soon as possible. She gestured toward the broken generator, where ripped metal edges were all that remained of the pump and its housing. then she pointed upward to the hole in the window vent. "I think whoever did this came in through there."

The man rubbed his face trying to wake up a little more but it was hard when everything was dark. Wait... why was everything dark? He pulled out a torch and shined the light to where the woman had indicated. "Well, that certainly took some force." The man said seeing the ripped metal edges.

"Yes, and since there was no explosion and no sign of any debris from one, I believe it must have been ripped out," Sofia explained. "If so, the question is who would do such a thing? And why?"

The man was going through options in his head at a fast rate trying to think of any person with the ability to do this to metal but he was coming up empty. "I don't think it's a who. I don't remember anyone signing up for this with the ability to punch through metal. I think it is more a question of what Sir." Theo was going to hazard that guess and didn't mind being wrong, a what was much more annoying.

"A what..." Sofia blinked. She'd been so focused on the idea of a potential link between this and the Io that she hadn't picked up on the evidence. And yet, it was right in front of her. Assured that she wouldn't be disturbing a crime scene, she moved closer to the remnants pump connections, examining them carefully. "If it was a 'what', then maybe we can identify it from this..." she pointed to small white fibers wedged in the fractured metal. "...fur, maybe?"

Theo turned the flashlight and blinked a little. "Definitely fur." The man turned away and grabbed a box from one of the other sleep deprived looking security crewman and pulled out a forensic kit. He took out a few items and used them to take the fur from where it had snagged.

"It looks like we should be bringing the science department in on this then," Sofia said. "I'll go with you. I need to inform engineering that we'll need repairs as well."

The man nodded. That sounded like a plan he could follow at the moment on so very little sleep. "Lead the way, Sir." He murmured glancing around one final time. He just couldn't fathom what would bite through metal?

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